Jeremiah 49

 

1 Concerning the Ammonites, the Lord says this; Does Israel have no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? 2 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it will be a desolate heap, and her towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will inherit its inheritance, says the LORD. 3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, you daughters of Rabbah, wrap yourself with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king will go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. 4 Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? That trusted in her treasures, saying, Who will come to me? 5 Behold, I will bring terror on you, says the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that are around you; and you will be driven out headlong; and no one will gather up the runaways. 6 And afterward I will return the prisoners of the sons of Ammon, says the LORD.

 

  • The Ammonites were the descendants of Lot.
  • Ezekiel 1: 26-28 gives a vision of God ruling nations from His throne.
  • Here God judged the Ammonites for taking Israel’s land.
  • He gave the land back to its rightful owners and released the prisoners.

 

7 Concerning Edom, the LORD of hosts says; Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 8 Flee, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him in the time that I visit him. 9 If grape gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, they will destroy until they have enough. 10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, his brothers, his neighbors, and he is no more.

 

  • Edom was the nation descended from Esau.
  • This tells why. They destroyed, plundered, and left nothing.
  • Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived, God is not mocked for whatever a man sows that is what he will reap.
  • Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that will not be made manifest; neither any thing hidden, that will not be known and come abroad.

 

The Lord preserves the fatherless children and widows for Himself

 

11 Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me. 12 For the Lord says this; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk; and will you go altogether unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but you will surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities will be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the heathen, saying, Gather together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15 For, behold, I will make you small among the nations, and despised among men. 16 Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you that dwell in the clefts of the rock, that hold the height of the hill: though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD. 17 Also Edom will be a desolation: every one that goes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighboring cities, says the LORD, no man will live there, neither will a son of man dwell in it.

 

  • These people were like mercenaries, violence for hire, they thought no one could touch them.

 

The Lord still rules among the nations

 

19 Behold, he will come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the dwelling of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? Who will summon me in judgment? Who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock will draw them out: surely he will make their dwellings desolate with them. 21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry its noise was heard in the Red sea. 22 Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom will be like the heart of a woman childbirth.

 

  • Ezekiel 34 explains the good and bad shepherd.
  • The one who gathers and feeds rather than plunders and destroys is the on who will stand before God. God is perfect.
  • All His ways are just and right.
  • 1 Chronicles 16:31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigns.

 

23 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil news: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus has grown feeble, and turns herself to flee, and fear has seized her: anguish and sorrows have seized her, as a woman in childbirth. 25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! 26 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be cut off in that day, says the LORD of hosts. 27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will consume the palaces of Ben-ha'dad. 28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon will strike, the Lord says this; Arise, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. 29 They will take away their tents and their flocks: they will take to themselves their curtains, all their goods and their camels; and they will cry out to them, Fear is on every side. 30 Flee, go far away, dwell deep, O you inhabitants of Hazor, says the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has plotted against you. 31 Arise, go up to the wealthy nation, that dwells without care, says the LORD, that has neither gates nor bars, which dwells alone. 32 And their camels will be a plunder, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds those that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides, says the LORD. 33 And Hazor will be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation forever: no man will live there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

 

  • Just like God sent Jonah to Nineveh, God sent these messages to these nations.
  • Nineveh turned from her wickedness and was not destroyed.
  • God does not destroy where the people turn from evil.
  • He only destroys the cancer of evil when there is no chance the people will turn and they are devouring the human race.
  • Jonah 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do to them; and he did not do it.
  • Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

 

The Lord promised to restore Elam in the latter days

 

34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 The Lord of hosts says this; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36 And on Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come. 37 For I will cause Elam to be terrified before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them: 38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and from there I will destroy the king and the princes, says the LORD. 39 But it will come to pass in the latter days, that I will return the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.

 

  • Notice God’s same compassion on a heathen nation as on His own people.
  • His mercy is magnificent.
  • Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: and he did it not.

 

                                             Jeremiah 50

 

1 The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 2 Declare among the nations; publish, and set up a standard; publish, and do not conceal it: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. 3 For out of the north comes a nation against her, which will make her land desolate, and none will live in it: they will flee, they will depart, both man and beast. 4 In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they will go, and seek the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion turning their faces in its direction, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.

 

  • John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

The Lord is our habitation of justice and our hope

 

6 My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. 7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. 8 Flee from Babylon’s midst, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

 

  • This prophecy from God through Jeremiah foretold the destruction of Babylon and warned the rest of God’s people to get out and go home before it happened.
  • God is our resting place.
  • The pastors led them the wrong direction. They didn’t lead them into humility before their Maker and love for Him first.
  • Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
  • Luke 21:21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let those that are in the midst of it depart out; and do not let those that are in the countries enter there.

 

9 For, behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they will set themselves in battle lines against her; from there she will be taken: their arrows will be like a champion; none will return in vain. 10 And Chaldea will be plunder: all that plunder her will be satisfied, says the LORD. 11 Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; 12 Your mother will be greatly ashamed; she that birthed you will be ashamed: behold, the last of the nations will be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it will not be inhabited, but it will be wholly desolate: every one that goes by Babylon will be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14 Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side: all you that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the LORD. 15 Raise the battle cry against her on every side: she has given herself up: her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done.

 

  • Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap.
  • Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

 

16 Cut off the planter from Babylon, and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they will return every one to his people, and they will flee every one to his own land. 17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, has broken his bones. 18 Therefore the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says this; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satisfied on mount Ephraim and Gilead.

 

  • Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

 

He pardons abundantly

 

20 In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant. 21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, says the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23 How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! 24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are taken, O Babylon, and you were not aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have struggled against the LORD. 25 The LORD has opened his armory, and has brought out the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

 

  • Notice the weapons of God’s indignation are the armies of nations.
  • As they conquered and plundered the earth, one of their favorite games was to stake out prisoners and have a contest to see who could keep their victim alive longest while peeling their skin off with a knife.
  • Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

 

26 Come against her from the farthest border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and utterly destroy her: let nothing be left of her. 27 Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: cries of grief to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. 28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all you that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none escape: repay her according to her work; do to her according to all that she has done: for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore her young men will fall in the streets, and all her men of war will be cut off in that day, says the LORD. 31 Behold, I am against you, O pride, says the Lord GOD of hosts: for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. 32 And pride will stumble and fall, and none will raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all round him. 33 The LORD of hosts says this; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

 

Our Redeemer is strong; He pleads our case

 

34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly defend their cause/lawsuit, that he may give rest to the land, and cause the inhabitants of Babylon to quiver violently. 35 A sword is on the Chaldeans, says the LORD, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men. 36 A sword is on the liars; and they will become fools: a sword is on her mighty men; and they will be shattered. 37 A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the foreigners that are in the midst of her; and they will become as women: a sword is on her treasures; and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is on her waters; and they will be dried up: for it is the land of carved images, and they are insane about their idols/their idols will go mad with terror. 39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands will dwell there, and the owls will dwell in it: and it will to be inhabited forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the LORD; so no man stay there, neither will any son of man dwell in it. 41 Behold, a people will come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 42 They seize the bow and javelin: they are cruel, and show no mercy: their voice will roar like the sea, and they will ride on horses, every one marshaled like a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands grew feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in childbirth. 44 Behold, he will come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan into the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? Who will summon me to court? And who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

 

  • Ezekiel 34 explains the shepherd that will stand before God. The one who gathers, heals, and feeds the people rather than leading them to death.

 

45 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock will draw them out: surely he will make their dwelling desolate with them. 46 At the shout of the taking of Babylon the earth will tremble, and the cry is heard among the nations.

 

  • God does not enjoy destruction.
  • He loves good and blessing.
  • But He has given mankind freewill; and He does give each person and nation to reap what they sow.
  • God’s intent in allowing us to reap what we sow is that we will turn from the wrong things back to Him.
  • Isaiah 9:6 unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government will be upon his shoulder: and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
  • Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
  • 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance.

 

 

**********************************

 

 

SUMMARY: Jeremiah 49-50

 

  • The Lord preserves the fatherless children and widows for Himself
  • The Lord still rules among the nations
  • The Lord promised to restore Elam in the latter days
  • The Lord is our habitation of justice and our hope
  • He pardons abundantly
  • Our Redeemer is strong; He pleads our case